Stassen Exports Limited vs Brooke Bond Group Ltd – S. C. C.H.C. APPEAL NO. 48/1999-2010

In the case between Stassen Exports Limited and Brooke Bond Group Ltd, Brooke Bond (Ceylon) (Pvt.) Ltd, Kirthisiri Jayasinghe (Patent and Trade Mark Registrar), the court addressed the issue of whether the registration of trade mark No. 12307 should be declared null and void and removed from the Register of Trade Marks. The court held that significant procedural errors had occurred in the admission and rejection of documentary evidence, particularly relating to the certification of documents under the Evidence Ordinance. This decision reaffirmed the principle that strict adherence to evidentiary requirements is mandatory, but a rigid or erroneous application that prejudices a party’s substantive rights warrants appellate intervention. Reliance was placed on provisions of the Evidence Ordin